The Process of Building and Issuing the Hong Duc Law

or engravings, other citations and drafters. Therefore, it is not possible to research the exact time of completion and promulgation of this Code. However, most authors affirm that the Hong Duc Code was not the work of a single king, nor was it completed from the beginning but was completed through each period. Many researchers believe that the Hong Duc Code was promulgated under the reign of King Le Thanh Tong with the reign name Hong Duc, so it was called the Hong Duc Code, such as Dinh Gia Trinh, Vu Van Mau, Nguyen Quang Quynh. Many researchers believe that the Code was promulgated under the reign of King Le Thai To and was supplemented and completed under the reign of King Le Thanh Tong, such as Nguyen Ngoc Huy, Yamamoto Tatsuro, Insun Yu... Each author has his own arguments to prove his assertion. But currently, most researchers believe that the Hong Duc Code was drafted in the first year of King Le Thai To's reign, gradually completed and almost completed under the reign of King Le Thanh Tong.

1.2.3.2 The process of building and promulgating the Hong Duc Code

Even before ascending the throne, Le Loi mentioned the matter of “ discussing the law to govern the army and the people ” and affirmed that “ from ancient times until now, governing a country must have laws, without laws there will be chaos ” [11, p.291]. Therefore, after ascending the throne, he paid great attention to building a strong state with a complete legal system. Many records in historical books have proven that the Hong Duc Code was drafted in the first year of Le Thai To’s reign.

In the year Dai Bao, under the reign of King Le Thai Tong, the king ordered Nguyen Trai to " revise " the Law Book consisting of 6 volumes. The Law Book revised by Nguyen Trai no longer exists and there is no basis to determine whether it was included in the Hong Duc Law Book or not?[20, p.29].

In 1449, King Le Nhan Tong added 14 articles to the Land chapter.

Maybe you are interested!

During the reign of King Le Thanh Tong, laws on incense offering, social security protection, litigation, and officialdom continued to be added. Books such as Hong Duc Thien Chinh Thu and Thien Nam Du Ha Tap also mentioned many laws and regulations promulgated under the reign of King Le Thanh Tong with the two reign names Quang Thuan and Hong Duc.

On the basis of synthesizing and systematizing all the laws that had been promulgated, Le Thanh Tong built a complete Code of Laws called the National Dynasty Code.

Law (Hong Duc Code). Many researchers believe that the year of completion of this Code was 1483, at the same time as the Thien Nam du ha tap . Although there is no direct basis to prove it, it can be determined that: The Hong Duc Code was drafted under the reign of Le Thai To, continuously supplemented, built and completed during the Hong Duc era under the reign of Le Thanh Tong[31, pp.30-31].

1.2.4.Ideas and expression of ideas on protecting the rights of disadvantaged social groups in the Hong Duc Code

1.2.4.1. Nguyen Trai and Le Thanh Tong's thoughts on the rights of disadvantaged social groups in society

1.2.4.1.1. Nguyen Trai's thoughts on the rights of disadvantaged social groups

Nguyen Trai (1380 - 1442) was a founding hero of the Later Le Dynasty and was also a learned and talented person, a very influential thinker during the Early Le Dynasty. During the reign of King Le Thai Tong, he was once ordered by the King to " revise " the Law Book . Although the Law Book revised by Nguyen Trai no longer exists and there is no basis to determine whether it was included in the Hong Duc Law Book or not?[31, p.29] But his humanitarian ideology certainly influenced many contents of the Law Book that he revised.

His thoughts were not presented in the form of a complete doctrine but were expressed through many works. Although many works were lost after Nguyen Trai's entire family was exterminated, there are still many works with many historical, ideological and artistic values such as Binh Ngo Dai Cao, Uc Trai Thi Tap, Quoc Am Thi Tap, Du Dia Chi... His works all aimed at solving pressing problems facing the country such as the way to govern the country, human ethics, the causes of the rise and fall of dynasties and solutions to solve the problems[26, p.51]. The core content of his thoughts is the thought of humanity, which has become the foundation, basis of the policy and standards of political relations, the principle in managing and leading the country. Nguyen Trai's thought of humanity originates from traditional Vietnamese patriotism, associated with the spirit of patriotism, the awareness of an independent and self-reliant country...

In the context of the Tran Dynasty's decline, the Ho Dynasty's oppression of the people, and the Ming invaders' massacres and plunder of the people, Nguyen Trai's humanitarian ideology became a strong source of vitality.

The idea of winning people's hearts, fighting the enemy and defending the country. After the Later Le Dynasty was established, this ideology contributed to making the country more and more prosperous, the people had a peaceful, prosperous and free life. He believed in humanity, compassion, sincerity, tolerance and generosity that could influence people, even those who had lost their way, thieves or enemies who had surrendered[26, p.56].

According to him, humanity is first of all about loving the people, serving the people, and bringing peace to the people because " humanity is essentially about bringing peace to the people ". Only when the material life of the people is guaranteed can social order be maintained. Only when life is full can human morality be respected. He believes that when people's lives are not guaranteed or respected, other factors are affected. "When hunger and cold are close to the body, there is no regard for etiquette " (Request for the Order) and " One day without food, father and son lose their affection " (Letter to Vuong Thong). This point of view is also very close to that of Marxism.

– Lenin, believes that social existence determines social consciousness. Before engaging in politics, culture, and art, people must ensure the minimum needs of life such as food, clothing, and shelter. If the minimum conditions for living cannot be guaranteed, spiritual values will be neglected and society cannot be stable. Therefore, first of all, we must make sure that the people are well-fed, peaceful, and have a stable life, so that “ everywhere in the village and hamlet there is no longer any sound of resentment or sadness ”. Nguyen Trai's humanitarian ideology is also expressed in the dream of building an ideal society for eternal peace, although it is only a distant dream[5, pp.58-61].

He believed that officials must be loyal to the king, the king must be a wise king, must be responsible for taking care of the people's lives, and keeping the people safe is a condition for social peace, a measure to stabilize and consolidate the dynasty to be forever strong. Taking the people as the root, knowing how to rely on the people's strength is the right political path to protect the country from all dangers, is the vital factor to preserve the country. " Loving people with humanity is the people, and those who can carry the boat and capsize the boat are also the people, helping people with virtue is heaven, and those who are difficult to trust and are not always heaven " (Edict to the Crown Prince). This point of view is not only valuable in the early Le Dynasty but also in any era. In Nguyen Trai's point of view, " the law of the country must follow the people's will, not taking the wishes of one person and forcing thousands of people to follow". All guidelines, policies, and strategies of the court must be based on the people's will, following the people's will. If the people support it, then do it, but if they oppose it, then abandon it. Only then can we keep the country.

stable and lasting[21, p.287]. This is a new concept, highly democratic and under the feudal regime in Vietnam, even at later times, not many people mentioned it.

Thus , it can be said that the most important characteristic in Nguyen Trai's thought is the idea of humanity. Although it was inherited from Chinese Confucianism, he developed it to a new level to become the idea of governing the country. He had a very clear awareness of the role of the people in history, the responsibility of the king and mandarins towards the people. He believed that ensuring the people's lives and protecting the legitimate rights of the poor were important tasks for the court, and at the same time, he also paid great attention to protecting the rights of vulnerable groups in society such as criminals or prisoners who surrendered... Although he did not mention other specific groups such as women, children, the elderly, ethnic minorities... Nguyen Trai's idea of humanity had a great influence and spread during the early Le Dynasty. Many humane and lenient contents of the Hong Duc Code were close to Nguyen Trai's idea of humanity and the way of governing the country and pacifying the people [34]. It was this ideology of his that laid the foundation for the development of traditional Vietnamese patriotism and became a fine tradition of our people [26, p.58].

1.2.4.2.Le Thanh Tong's thoughts on the rights of disadvantaged social groups

Le Thanh Tong is one of the outstanding figures in Vietnamese history. He ascended the throne when the country was facing many difficulties. Within the royal court, internal conflicts had reached a very severe level. Among the people, corrupt officials were exploiting the people to the bone marrow, tyrants and tyrants were oppressing the innocent people, thieves and robbers were rising like bees, the people were scattered... Foreign invaders were also plotting to tear our country apart again. In that context, he created and persistently implemented many reforms in many fields of administration, economy, national defense and law, leading Dai Viet from a weak country to a prosperous country in the region, opening a new period of development for our nation. Born and raised in a difficult context, deeply influenced by Confucian ideology, but Le Thanh Tong himself was also an outstanding talent in many fields, he was also a poet, a great cultural figure, knowledgeable, and understood

know deeply. Living in exile with his mother among the poor people since childhood, receiving life-saving grace and being strongly influenced by the humane political line of Nguyen Trai and his mother, Mrs. Ngo Thi Ngoc Dao, who was praised by the time as " in the royal court, the noble and the humble all called her the living Buddha " [3], so Le Thanh Tong was also a very close king, caring about the lives of the people, especially the disadvantaged in society. He believed that the king must have " humanity ". To demonstrate the " humanity " of the emperor, he reduced the tax obligation to the people " so that the people can be well-fed, it is necessary to reduce the collection of taxes and supplies "; associated with making the government beautiful " the emperor in times of peace must make the government beautiful ". The humanity of the emperor is also associated with eliminating the cruel and oppressing people, " eliminating the cruel is the kindness of the emperor"... Those progressive views were expressed in the law, making the Hong Duc Code built under the reign of Le Thanh Tong contain more positive values than the Codes built under other dynasties[21, p.304].

Le Thanh Tong's way of governing the country was a harmonious combination of the relationship between rule of law and rule of virtue. For the people, he advocated " respecting heaven and loving the people ",[32, p.80] these are two factors that always go hand in hand, their existence limited the king's despotism and arbitrariness, and encouraged the king to regularly introduce positive policies, meeting the legitimate demands of the people. He always believed that loving the people was the responsibility of officials, must constantly benefit the people, all harm to the people, always try to make sure that all people are rich, happy and prosperous, the people have more than enough, no more hunger, cold, exile... In Le Thanh Tong's concept, the emperor must be nurtured by the people's hearts, so that virtue covers all eight directions[31, p.49]... Therefore, in the royal decrees and laws, there are many regulations on the rights of the people, especially those who suffer many disadvantages, the weak in society such as: preventing the enslavement of the people, caring for and protecting the rights of the elderly, the lonely, the disabled, the sick, criminals, women, children, and ethnic minorities.

He believed that law plays an important role in governing the country. Law must be strict but law is also the public law of the state, so before the law, the king, mandarins and common people must all obey, regardless of class or social status.

lowly, high, low, so the law is an important tool to protect the rights of the people, especially the disadvantaged. Although there are still many limitations due to the provisions of the circumstances and socio-economic conditions, Le Thanh Tong's ideology, especially the ideology of protecting women's rights, clearly shows progress, humanity, ahead of the times, in line with the development trend of history.

1.2.4.2 The expression of the idea of protecting the rights of disadvantaged social groups in the Hong Duc Code

Law is a part of the superstructure. Therefore, it is always subject to the regulations of the infrastructure and influenced by socio-economic conditions. During the early Le Dynasty, although Vietnam was considered a relatively prosperous country in the region, it was essentially a backward agricultural country with low labor productivity, relying mainly on primitive labor tools and traditional experience. Although indigenous culture and customs still had their marks, after more than 1,000 years of Chinese domination, the influence of Chinese culture on our country was relatively profound, not only in life but also in the laws of the dynasties. Confucian ideology also gradually influenced our country's culture and law and was considered by the early Le Dynasty as the official ideology, which was strengthened, built, and protected. In that context, the progressive values of the law of the early Le Dynasty and the ideas of protecting human rights and the interests of disadvantaged social groups in the Hong Duc Code became very prominent, unique and had progressive values compared to other countries of the same period.

The laws of the early Le Dynasty highly valued and institutionalized the ideas of protecting the rights of disadvantaged social groups into the law. Many provisions in the Hong Duc Code clearly demonstrated the humanitarian and progressive ideas of defending the rights of women, the elderly, children, the disabled, ethnic minorities and many other subjects. The rights of disadvantaged social groups were not only institutionalized into the law but also ensured and implemented through many effective measures. The ideas of protecting the rights of disadvantaged social groups in the Hong Duc Code were expressed in many aspects.

One is : the ideology of respecting and protecting women's rights.

The Hong Duc Code gave women a relatively high legal status compared to the laws of many other countries of the same period. Although Confucian ideology and

Its narrow-minded views on women have deeply influenced our country's culture, ideology and law, but the lawmakers of the early Le Dynasty clearly demonstrated their " humanity, progress and courage" to " record a historical reality about the role of women " [28, pp. 199-203]. The ideology of protecting women's rights and respecting women's rights is also expressed in all fields such as civil, criminal, marriage and family and these contents will be analyzed specifically in the following sections... Among them, there are many contents of outstanding progressive nature that are not found in many laws of Eastern countries and many countries of the same period, such as: regulations allowing daughters to share property like sons, daughters can also inherit the family's ancestral altar if the family has no sons, when the family has to divide property, the property made by the husband and wife is divided in half and women have the right to proactively divorce their husbands [31, p.

.33]. In addition, there are many other provisions in many other areas where lawmakers, through their system of regulations, clearly demonstrate the idea of protecting women's rights, a very humane and progressive idea compared to other countries of the same period, in line with the development trend of society.

Second: the idea of applying the law based on humanitarian principles.

Most of the legal documents and law enforcement activities in the early Le Dynasty always had priority for the subjects when they belonged to vulnerable groups in society such as the elderly, children, the disabled, women, the mentally ill, ethnic minorities[26, p.179]... In the Hong Duc Code, this ideology was expressed in all fields such as criminal, civil, marriage and family, and litigation. Normally, these subjects all enjoyed preferential treatment, reduction of punishment when committing crimes, exemption or reduction of punishment, and postponement of sentence execution. In the civil field, subjects such as children and orphans were cared for, their rights were guaranteed, and the deprivation of economic and property benefits was limited. In the field of litigation, when applying measures of investigation, interrogation, detention, torture, arrest of criminals, execution of sentences... the application of the law on the principle of humanity is also very clearly demonstrated, especially for those belonging to disadvantaged social groups.

Third: the idea of the responsibility of the subject of law enforcement in protecting the rights of disadvantaged social groups.

This is one of the most unique features of the Hong Duc Code. With the concept of " first of all, we must govern the officials before we can govern the people " and " the law is the public law of the state, we and you must obey it " [11, p.259], Le Thanh Tong showed his respect for attaching the responsibility of officials to the work they do. That point of view is clearly expressed in the law through the mechanism of ensuring rights and protecting vulnerable social groups by attaching responsibilities and very strict and specific sanctions to those who apply the law, the authorities if they do not implement or do not implement correctly, fully, and promptly their responsibilities. In almost every article of law, the legislator attaches specific responsibilities to the subjects applying the law and sanctions to that subject if they do not implement correctly, fully, and promptly their responsibilities. At the same time, he promoted the ethics of officials not only in work but also in their lifestyle and personal relationships. “ It is rare to see where and when law enforcement activities have such a strong mechanism to ensure implementation as well as to ensure the rights, legitimate interests, and status of those subject to law enforcement ”[26]. And it is this mechanism to ensure implementation that has positively impacted law enforcement activities, making laws on protecting the rights of disadvantaged social groups to be strictly implemented in practice.

Thus, although promulgated more than 500 years ago, greatly influenced by Chinese culture and law, and the provisions of economic and social conditions in the early Le Dynasty, the Hong Duc Code still demonstrates progressive, humane ideas and humanistic values for people, especially those who suffer many disadvantages, who are subjects of disadvantaged social groups. The ideas for the interests of disadvantaged social groups in particular and human rights in general still have value for research, inheritance and application in the process of perfecting the current law. Especially when the Vietnamese state is in the process of perfecting the legal system and building a socialist rule of law state for all people.

Comment